Man Utd boss confirms major double injury boost but duo ruled out of Leicester trip

Manchester United get back to Premier League action when they take on Leicester City at the King Power stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Ahead of the game, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been speaking to the media at his pre-match press conference today and he’s provided a team news and injury update including the latest on the fitness of several players.

Let’s start with the positive news and Solskjaer was pleased to confirm a major boost with Marcus Rashford back in contention for Man Utd’s trip to Leicester after recovering from a shoulder injury.

Rashford underwent surgery in the summer to rectify the troublesome issue but he returned to full training earlier this month and is now available this weekend – although Solskjaer refused to confirm whether the attacker would start at the King Power.

There was also an encouraging update on Harry Maguire as the Manchester United skipper returned to training this morning after making a swift recovery from a calf injury that he sustained last month.

Maguire has missed United’s last four games in all competitions but told reporters recently he was close to returning to action and Solskjaer has confirmed the defender is now back in training.

Solskjaer told ManUtd.com:

“Harry was on the grass this morning and that was the first day out there.

“He’s [Rashford] in the squad, yes. If he’s going to start or not, I can’t tell you now because it wouldn’t be right but he’s worked really hard throughout the whole lay-off.

“He’s been really bright this week, he had a 60-minute involvement in a behind-closed-doors game last week so he’s fit and raring to go.”

It’s not clear whether Maguire will be available to face Leicester tomorrow but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s involved – especially as Raphael Varane is missing having been ruled out for ‘a few weeks’ with an injury he picked up while away with France last week.

Varane won’t be the Man Utd only player missing this weekend as Solskjaer has also confirmed Fred and Edinson Cavani won’t be involved against Leicester after featuring during Brazil’s win over Uruguay late last night.

Solskjaer told ManUtd.com:

“With regards to Fred and Edinson, they played a full game this morning, half 1 it kicked off, so of course we’re not counting on them,”

“We’ve got to give them the time to rest and recover, which of course you have to.

“They played well, and that was a good thing for us. They’re not injured, so hopefully they can be involved again in midweek, for the Champions League [game versus Atalanta].”

With Fred ruled out, Nemanja Matic and Donny van de Beek are pushing for recalls in midfield while Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to replace Cavani up front after the Portuguese superstar was controversially benched for the draw with Everton before the break.

Manchester United head into the weekend action sitting fourth in the Premier League table – two points off leaders Chelsea – so they’ll be keen to get back to winning ways with victory over Leicester tomorrow afternoon.